Chocolate Air...

I am an eighth grade language arts/social studies teacher in Ohio. I started this blog to keep track of all the great books I read so I could share them with my students. I now use this blog in class for book talks so my students can keep up to date on the world of books that I so dearly love. It is my hopes that this blog will continue to be a source of exciting book finds for my current and former students to explore. Send me your comments! I look forward to hearing from you!

Monday, March 22, 2010

The Storm in the Barn

Winner of the 2010 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan has been on my TBR list for quite a while.

From the book jacket..."In 1937, eleven-year-old Jack Clark faces his share of ordinary challenges: local bullies, his father's failed expectations, a little sister with an eye for trouble. But he also has to deal with the effects of the Dust Bowl, including the rising tensions in his small town and the spread of a shadowy illness. A case of the new "dust dementia" would certainly explain who (or what) Jack has glimpsed in the abandoned Talbot barn--a sinister figure with a face like rain. In a land where it never rains, it's hard to trust what you see with your own eyes--and harder still to take heart and be a hero when the time comes."

This fable is told in more pictures than text. With 201 pages, there is very little reading of words in this story. Take your time and soak in the pictures. If you do not take the time to tell yourself this story, you will miss a good one!